Shloka 33
अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता
Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality
यतयो मोक्षधर्मज्ञा योगा: सुचरितव्रता: । (पाज्चरात्रविदो मुख्यास्तथा भागवता: परे | वैखानसा: कुलश्रेष्ठा वैदिकाचारचारिण: ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | yatayo mokṣadharmajñā yogāḥ sucaritavratāḥ | pāñcarātravido mukhyās tathā bhāgavatāḥ pare | vaikhānasāḥ kulaśreṣṭhā vaidikācāracāriṇaḥ || ye cetihāsaṃ prayatāḥ śrāvayanti dvijottamān |
Bhishma said: Ascetics (yatī) who understand the dharma of liberation (mokṣa-dharma)—yogins of well-observed vows—those foremost among the knowers of the Pāñcarātra tradition, and the highest devotees of Bhagavān; the eminent Vaikhānasa practitioners, best of their lineages, who live by Vedic conduct—such disciplined men, intent on sacred duty, recite the Itihāsa to the best of the twice-born. The passage praises learned, self-controlled Brahmins and devotional-ritual specialists whose learning, vows, and faithful practice make them purifying exemplars for society and worthy transmitters of sacred history and dharma.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse elevates disciplined ascetics and learned devotees—those grounded in mokṣa-dharma, vows, Vedic conduct, and recognized Vaiṣṇava traditions—as ideal transmitters of Itihāsa and dharma. Their self-restraint and faithful practice are presented as socially purifying and ethically authoritative.
Bhishma, instructing on dharma in the Anushasana Parva, lists exemplary categories of religious specialists (yogins, Pāñcarātra knowers, Bhāgavatas, Vaikhānasas, Vedic practitioners) and describes them as earnest reciters/teachers who make sacred history heard by eminent Brahmins.